Title Theft - Man Gets Notice, Someone Illegally Sold His Property - It Wasn't Him

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Home title theft — a crime where someone steals a homeowner's identity to take ownership of a property — leaves property owners, like Gordon, without many options for quick reconciliation. And it's been happening with greater regularity in recent years. In Gordon's case, he was pulled in many directions over countless phone calls, and had a hard time getting a straight answer on how to move forward.

"There were several really odd things that had been ignored," he said. "The notary that they used was five-and-a-half hours away in an entirely different county from where the documents were signed."

Gordon lives in Phoenix, but the warranty deed recorded by the county — which was reviewed by Insider — had "Arizona" and "Pima" crossed out and replaced by "Texas" and "Bexar," a county almost 900 miles from Tucson

Real-estate agents in Arizona have seen a rise in fraud this year — especially for vacant land.

He was miffed that a document as crucial as a deed would not have a rigorous verification process for identification, he said. Title Security Agency did not immediately respond to multiple requests for comment.


https://www.businessinsider.com/mans-arizona-lot-sold-for-20...